Former Emap Digital chief joins mobile services firm

Luke Alvarez, the former chief operating officer at Emap Digital,

has joined mobile services company Inspired Technology Group.

Alvarez, who left Emap Digital around six weeks ago, has been appointed

president of ITG in the UK. He is the former vice-president of business

development of fashion e-tailer boo.com.

ITG launched in the UK around three months ago and the company also has

offices in Dublin and San Francisco.

"We aren't a marketing services company, we're going to offer new

publishing channels," explained Alvarez.

"The company exists to create out-of-home entertainment applications to

enable media companies to make money from consumers by charging for

their content."

The company aims to develop products for emerging technologies like

GPRS, 3G, Bluetooth and location-based services and targets media and

content owners.

The first product due to be launched is Poptext, which distributes

interactive publishing content and games via SMS and voice. The company

plans to extend its offering to other platforms.

ITG takes a share of revenue on usage time. It has already struck

commercial deals and has active customers for its services.

Alvarez is one of a number of industry figures who have migrated to

technology-focused companies.

Sportal's founder and former chief executive Rob Hersov recently

launched two technology companies ( Revolution, 12 September, p3), one

of which, the Wireless Content Company, also targets content owners such

as publishers, broadcasters and media owners to format information for

wireless devices.

This article was first published on revolutionmagazine.com